Interview: Udi Avshalomov and Stash Talk the Rebirth of Recon

You can go ahead and call it a comeback if you want — NYC streetwear brand Recon is returning from hiatus, and papa's got a brand-new bag. We're talking sneakers, and we're talking a big launch for the Global Hi model: special editions from Stash, Futura and Wane (available now for pre-order on Finish Line), and a whole mess of colorways waiting to drop next (not to mention all sorts of things that you might see in some of the photos here). We caught up the brains behind the operation — NYC legends Stash and Udi Avshalomov — to talk about the rebirth.

I think it helps to have a little background about you, and your background on sneakers from you before we get into Recon.

Udi: I’m not really good in talking about myself — I’ll give you someone who can give a little bit of my background. I think he’s one of your friends.

Stash: Broadway Sneakers, probably. I met this dude when he was the local dude who knew everything we didn’t know about footwear. He definitely blessed me. Early on. Whenever I needed to go on a trip and needed some shit nobody had, I definitely went down and saw Udi on Broadway.

On top of that, his vast knowledge from being in the retail industry, when he applied that to wholesale you can just imagine how that worked, he already came with the knowledge.

Recon — we haven't heard much from there lately.

Stash: Recon has been at the forefront of streetwear since ’98, and took a hiatus a few years back. To preserve its heritage we didn’t want to get too far deep into where the streetwear industry was going. My mentality said I’d rather leave on a high note than let it sour. We just stepped off the scene, but we didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t want the milk to turn into yogurt, so we put it back in the fridge, you know what I’m sayin’? Until Udi’s inception of bringing it into the footwear game, I had no real desire to move forward.

So what was the motivation to bring it into footwear?

Stash: Just the opportunity, really, just completing the story, coming full circle. He can bring something to the table — he’s been a friend...

I never was a sneakerhead, but I definitely made sure that the culture that had to eat at my restaurant had a full menu. —Udi Avshalomov

Udi: I tell you, it’s funny you called us together — we pretty much grew up… Are we done with my background? I tell you what, I never know how to explain it, because all I was was an immigrant who was trying to make a living. But at the same time, before I fell in love with girls, I fell in love with sneakers. And that put more food on my table than girlfriends did. And I found myself a loving slave of retail. And why do I say “loving slave”? I did it with an at-will contract. Meaning I had no problem living and eating and shitting and sleeping in my stores because again, it helped my family eat when we were in survival mode. At the same time, when something gives you the right to eat you kind of fall in love with it, and that’s when I fell in love with sneakers — not that I was ever a sneakerhead, I never was a sneakerhead, I never collected sneakers, but I definitely made sure that the culture that had to eat at my restaurant had a full menu. Whether it was something at $9.99 to $100 — fresh ain’t determined by price, fresh is determined by the individual.